Apparatus for simplifying the playing of a song bell type instrument

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for simplifying the playing of a song bell type instrument said apparatus including a stand having a support for the song bell instrument with a rotatable roll mounted adjacent thereto with a music sheet attached to the surface of the roll, said sheet having indicia thereon coordinated with the instrument keyboard to indicate which key is to be struck and the order for striking.

United States Patent Buchman Feb. 12, 1974 APPARATUS FOR SIMPLIFYING THE PLAYING OF A SONG BELL TYPE INSTRUMENT John M. Buchman, 10327 Langmuir Ave., Sunland, Calif. 91040 Filed: Mar. 8, 1973 App]. No.: 339,155

Inventor:

US. Cl. 84/483 Int. Cl. Glob 15/00 Field of Search 84/470, 471, 477, 478, 483,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1957 Fedoryszyn 84/404 X 12/1941 Klein FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 140,040 4/1903 Germany ..84/483 271,960 3/1914 Gennany ..84/483 Primary Examiner-Lawrence R. Franklin Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Withetspoon and Lane [57] ABSTRACT Apparatus for simplifying the playing of a song bell type instrument said apparatus including a stand having a support for the song bell instrument with a rotatable roll mounted adjacent thereto with a music sheet attached to the surface of the roll, said sheet having indicia thereon coordinated with the instrument keyboard to indicate which key is to be struck and the order for striking.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEBIZIBH 3.791.250

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ABCDEFGABCDEF ful J Jfor ii I J. beau- JOh PATENTEDFEBI 2 3,191,250

SHEEI 3 0F 3 FIG. 5.

DIRECTION OF ROTATION APPARATUS FOR SIMPLIFYING THE PLAYING OF A SONG BELL TYPE INSTRUMENT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS This invention generally relates to the field of indicators, guides and the like employed to simplify the playing of a musical instrument such as a song bell unit. Many of the devices presently available for simplifying this activity are complicated, clumsy and .require substantial coordination. In an effort to overcome these deficiencies, the apparatus of thisinvention was developed.

In view of the above, it is an object of this invention to provide apparatus for simplifying the playing of a musical instrument of the song bell type.

It is another object of this invention to provide a stand which is adapted to support the musical instrument, said stand having a rotatable roll adjacent the support with the roll mounting a music sheet having indicia thereon coordinated with the instrument keys to indicate which key should be struck and the order of such striking.

IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the stand including a table-like surface to support the song bell musical instrument and a cylindrical roll adapted to carry the sheet music properly coordinated with the musical instrument,

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the stand,

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the stand,

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the stand with the song bell instrument and the music sheet assembled thereon in operative position, and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the music sheet illustrating the exact layout and spacing required to practice this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the stand has symmetrically shaped and disposed legs 12 and 14 mounting a generally horizontal support 16 therebetween. Transverse spacing and bracing rods 18 and 20 affixed to legs 12 and 14, together with support 16, form a unitary assembly.

A roll 22 is rotatably mounted between legs 12 and 14 by means of a shaft 24. A handle 26 is affixed to one end of the shaft 24 for manual rotation of the roll. It should be noted that the roll 22 is located quite close to the support 16 so that there will be no problem of lining up the indicia on the music sheet and the keys on the musical instrument. This is clearly shown in FIG. 2 wherein the song bell type instrument 28 is positioned on the support 16 with its keys 30 closely adjacent the roll 22. p

The music sheet 40 is shown in plan view in FIG. 5, and is set up so as to have a plurality of vertical columns corresponding in number and spacing to the keys 30 of the song bell instrument 28 or other musical instrument with which it may be used. In other words, each note appears directly beneath the bell which is to be struck. A connecting line 44 proceeds from one note to the next in order to indicate the order of striking. The music sheet in prepared in somewhat conventional practice with the syllables of the words comprising the lyrics being positioned adjacent the notes. The music staff lines on which the notes rest may also be printed on the music sheet. Although the staff lines and syllables are not essential to the method of playing, they are an asset when used by persons who wish to become familiar with music designation.

In the plan view of FIG. 3, it is clear that the roll 22 is positioned closely adjacent and parallel to the longitudinal edge 34 of support 16. It should be noted that, if desired, legs 12 and 14 may be provided with vertical slots 36 and 38 to receive the end portions of shaft 24 which rotatably carries roll 16.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the music sheet 40 is mounted on the surface of roll 16 so that the notes on the sheet are properly aligned with the keys 30. The sheet is so oriented that by rotating the roll clockwise, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2, the music will be properly and sequentially fed so that the reading takes place along a line immediately adjacent the edge of the keys 30, thus there is no problem in determining which not to strike.

In view of the foregoing, the manner in which the apparatus is used should be apparent. Even so, a brief summary follows. First, the music sheet 40 is mounted in roll 22 so that the word start is visible at the top of the roll and immediately adjacent the keys 30. Care should be taken to make certain that the music sheet 40 on roll 22 is correctly oriented with respect to the keys 30. After this, play is commenced by rotating the roll 22 clockwise by means of handle 26 to successively expose a note under a given key to signify which key is to be struck. As rotation continues, notes will appear and must be played in the order indicated by playing sequence line 44.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for simplifying the playing of a song bell type instrument having a plurality of parallel keys adapted to be individually struck, said apparatus comprising a stand, said stand including a pair of spaced, parallel, U-shaped legs, a flat horizontal support table connected to and between the aforesaid legs at their closed ends, a roll rotatably carried by the legs whereby the roll is perpendicular to the legs with its upper tangential surface substantially level with the flat horizontal support table, a song bell type musical instrument mounted on the aforesaid table, said musical instrument being positioned so its keys are closely adjacent the roll and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof, a sheet of music affixed to the outer surface of the roll, said music sheet having a plurality of horizontally disposed vertical columns adapted for alignment with the keys of the musical instrument, indicia on said music sheet to indicate the keys and order of striking whereby rotation of the music sheet carrying roll progressively exposes indicia to indicate the key to be struck and order of striking to produce the desired music.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 and wherein the roll is provided with a handle by which the roll may be manually rotated.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 1 and wherein the music sheet is provided with a line connecting the indicia thereon to designate the order for striking the keys as the roll is rotated. 

1. Apparatus for simplifying the playing of a song bell type instrument having a plurality of parallel keys adapted to be individually struck, said apparatus comprising a stand, said stand including a pair of spaced, parallel, U-shaped legs, a flat horizontal support table connected to and between the aforesaid legs at their closed ends, a roll rotatably carried by the legs whereby the roll is perpendicular to the legs with its upper tangential surface substantially level with the flat horizontal support table, a song bell type musical instrument mounted on the aforesaid table, said musical instrument being positioned so its keys are closely adjacent the roll and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis thereof, a sheet of music affixed to the outer surface of the roll, said music sheet having a plurality of horizontally disposed vertical columns adapted for alignment with the keys of the musical instrument, indicia on said music sheet to indicate the keys and order of striking whereby rotation of the music sheet carrying roll progressively exposes indicia to indicate the key to be struck and order of striking to produce the desired music.
 2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 and wherein the roll is provided with a handle by which the roll may be manually rotated.
 3. The invention as set forth in claim 1 and wherein the music sheet is provided with a line connecting the indicia thereon to designate the order for striking the keys as the roll is rotated. 